WASHINGTON STATE left Logan with another narrow loss on Friday, a 17-16 defeat to Utah State, and Caden Pinnick spent his postgame session owning the mess.
The quarterback did not try to dodge the criticism or spread the blame around. Instead, he kept circling back to the same point: the offense has to be better, and he sees that as his responsibility.
“Nobody knows what happens inside of these walls,” Pinnick said. “And a lot of Twitter warriors or Instagram demons can come out and put their own opinion, but truth be told, I rely on these guys more than anything.
“It makes me emotional when we have outcomes like this. But I really just lean on these guys to just kind of get me through tough times. And I praise this coaching staff and Coach (Kirby) Moore because they’re going to take bullets, but they have our back 100 percent of the time.”
That kind of line would land a lot differently if Washington State were winning. At 5-1, it would pass with barely a ripple.
At 1-5, every word gets dragged into the spotlight, especially when the conversation is happening on social media. Still, Pinnick made clear he knows the offense has not delivered.
“It’s really unfair for these guys to come out and bust their butt every week of practice, and for me not to pick it up on my end,” Pinnick said. “When I look back on it, there’s a lot of things I can control ... nobody understands nor knows what’s going on in this facility.
And these guys are busting their butts every single day. So for them to come out and me not do my part and help these guys to win, it weighs heavy on me.”
The numbers back up the frustration. Pinnick is 110-of-178 on the year for 952 yards, with three touchdown passes and five interceptions.
He has run 74 times for 194 yards and three scores, lost two fumbles and been sacked 21 times. If you strip out the Duquesne game, he has only one passing touchdown against an FBS team.
The Cougars’ problems have not been limited to one area, but the second half has been especially rough. They still have not scored in the third quarter against an FBS opponent, and they have repeatedly come out of halftime without any punch, even though they have started with the ball in four of the five games against FBS teams.
Pinnick pointed to the fix in plain terms: better habits, better practices and a sharper imitation of game conditions.
“Our practice habits and me creating a game like environment for our guys,” Pinnick said. “And that’s something I’m going to take on the chin because we all have to get better. And where we’re at right now, it sucks.
“And everyone’s going to demand perfection from a team holistically, and just where we’re at it happens, and we’re going to get better from this. I have no doubt that these guys will continue to make plays like they did.”
He also said the third-quarter drought and the repeated post-halftime lulls trace back to the group getting too comfortable.
“What I think it is, is really just like a complacent feeling,” Pinnick said. “Like thinking we’re good.
It sucks because when you look back on it, we’re moving the ball as we should, and for us to just continue to stall out, it sucks. And it’s probably a mindset thing, something we just have to keep working at and developing an identity for ourselves coming out for the second half.”
In Other News...
Washington State Just Made The Change Its Offense Desperately Needed
Washington State is making a quarterback change heading into its next game, with head coach Kirby Moore turning to redshirt freshman Owen Eshelman after reviewing the recent film and weighing Caden Pinnicks uneven play. The move signals a clear attempt to shake the offense out of its current rhythm, and it puts Eshelman in position to make his collegiate starting debut against Oregon State.
For the Cougars, the timing matters because the offense has been searching for steadier execution, and the latest stretch of inconsistency left the staff looking for a different answer. Eshelman now gets the first crack at settling things down, while Pinnick steps aside after handling the job for the opening stretch of the season. [Read more 🡒]
Boise States Pac-12 Title Path Is Starting To Feel Very Real
At the midpoint of the 2026 college football season, Boise State and Oregon State have separated themselves from the rest of the Pac-12, and the league table is starting to look a lot more like a two-team race. Boise State helped sharpen that picture with a narrow road win at Fresno State, while Oregon State backed up its standing with a lopsided home victory over San Diego State, giving both programs a firm grip on the top of the conference race heading into the fall stretch.
The bigger picture now points to Nov. 14, when those two teams meet in a matchup that could help decide not just the standings, but also who gets the edge for home field in the Pac-12 championship game. For everyone else in the league, including Washington State, the job is simple enough but not easy: keep winning, keep pressure on the front-runners, and hope the path to the title game does not get narrowed much more before November arrives. [Read more 🡒]
Washington States Quarterback Search May Already Be Looking To 2027
Washington States quarterback picture has already become one of the more pressing storyline to watch, and not just because of the struggles around the current starter, Caden Pinnick. With the Cougars taking a hard look at what comes next, the conversation has widened beyond the present season and into future roster planning, where every viable arm matters and every possible bridge to stability is worth tracking.
One name that fits that broader search is Joshua Wood, whose production at the FCS level has kept him on the radar as a potential long-term answer. Wood has shown enough in his current stop to make him an intriguing option if Washington State is thinking beyond immediate fixes, and his path back toward major-college football makes him a player worth monitoring as the Cougars sort through what their quarterback room could look like in the seasons ahead. [Read more 🡒]